Read
about the naming system, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering
site in Florida and leg-band codes.

Personality
and History

Baby #532 Photo ICF

MigrationTraining:He
was hatched at ICF from
an egg laid at Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. The biologists who raised
him there called him Waldo. He transferred to the Necedah
NWR at 1 month of age. Marianne Wellington
is a chick-rearing specialist who wore a costume and raised the 4
DAR
chicks there.
They fledged(had
all their flight feathers and could fly) when
they were around 70 days old. Unlike their cousins for the ultralight-led
migration, the DAR chicks roamed freely on the refuge. Marianne and
other costumed parents checked on them many times each day. At night
until they're released the chicks are safe in a big pen with a pond
and a net over the top. Weight:
6.4 kg on Oct. 22. He
has been hanging out with other whooping cranes, sandhill cranes
and DAR chicks on the refuge and nearby areas.

All 4 DAR
chicks in the night pen after the 3 girls had their leg bands
placed on them

History:
Fall 2005--First Migration South as a Direct Release
Bird:All four DAR birds
began migration Nov. 24 from Necedah
NWR, leaving at 10:33 AM. They took off
together with +50 sandhill cranes. Taking advantage
of a strong tailwind, these birds soon outdistanced the tracking team.
Trackers heard no signals the rest of Day 1. On Day 2, #32-05 (with
DAR #28-05 and #33-05) again joined sandhill cranes and flew all the
way to Hiwassee NWR in Tennessee--each arriving separately with a
sandhill
flock, but on the same
day as
their flock mates led by ultralights! (Chick #32-05 was second of the
three to reach Hiwassee.) He resumed migration again Nov. 30.
He has not been located since then, and tracking aircraft have not
been available to complete a search of sandhill crane wintering areas
where he might be found.

January
31, 2006: DAR Chick #32-05 is found! Tracker Lara Fondow and
a helper found him on a ranch in Osceola County, Florida. On Feb.1
he
was observed
with
small numbers of nonmigratory sandhill cranes in a wetland on
the ranch.

Spring 2006: He was no longer on his wintering spot
when checked on March 23. He began migration between 8 and 23 March.
He was not tracked, and no reports were received during migration.
His radio signals were detected on May 4 at home in central Wisconsin
(Jackson County). He remained in that general location one more day
before disappearing again until his arrival on Necedah NWR on May
18 with two sandhills. Soon he joined #403 and #412.

DAR
#32-05 in his winter home in Osceola County, FL
Photos R. Urbanek, FWS

DAR
#32-05 with Sandhill cranes at Wisconsin's Necedah NWR
on May 18,
2006.

DAR
#32-05 with #403 and #412 in Wisconsin on May 18, 2006.

Fall
2006: 32-05 (DAR) left Wisconsin on Nov. 19 with #216
and #516. They made it that night to SE Indiana. Last detected
in flight in Dixie County, FL Nov. 22 and not seen again until
February 9, 2007. Crane 32-05 (DAR) was located in Florida during
an aerial search. He was in a flock
of about 25 apparently nonmigratory Sandhills cranes in a cattle
feedlot and near to human activity. A local resident said he'd
been there for about a month. (It would be safer for him if he
would avoid humans.)

Spring
2007: Confirmed
back on Necedah NWR in Wisconsin on March 23. On July 31, his body
was discovered on the edge of a dried-up pond. He likely was killed
by a predator sometime in the first two weeks of July.